Fusee having a no-roll device



United States Patent Assignee Norman Gaither Morgan Hill, California;

Perry K. Spangler, Morgan Hill, California 696,746

Jan. 10, 1968 Sept. 15, 1970 Olin Corporation a corporation of Virginia Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented FUSEE HAVING A NO-ROLL DEVICE 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl l02/37.8 Int. Cl C06d 1/10 Field of Search 102/374, 37.52, 37.8; 44/48; 102/654 References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 6/1918 McAdams 102/374 1,776,354 9/1930 Edmands l02/37.4

2,848,946 8/1958 Goebig l02/37.8

3,112,703 12/1963 Urdapilleta 102/65.4

FOREIGN PATENTS 122,140 9/1946 Australia................. 44/48 721,024 11/1965 Canada.... 102/37.8

Primary Examiner- Robert F. Sta'hl Atiorneysl-l. Samuel Kieser, Donald R. Motsko, William W.

Jones, Arthur N. Krein, Richard S. Strickler and George J. Koeser ABSTRACT: A fusee cap including a tubular sheath having a scratch mix thereon and covered with a lid. A post-like projection extends from the tubular sheath in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis thereof to provide a no-roll feature.

Patented Sept. 15, 1970 3,528,370

INVENTORS. h NORMAN GA/THER 8 PERRY K. SPANGLER ATTORNEY FUSEE HAVING A NO-ROLL DEVICE This invention relates generally to fusees. More particularly it relates to a cap for a fusee incorporating a no-roll feature.

At the present time, most fusee caps consist of some type of plug-like element secured to one end of a cardboard tube. The outside surface of the plug is covered with the scratch mix which is used to ignite the match head material on the end of the fusee body. The cap is inserted over the end of the fusee body having the igniting material thereon with the entire cap and a portion of the fusee body being covered with a waterproof paper which is adhered thereto by glue. To provide a means for removing the cap, as well as to protect the scratch mix, a strip of tape is provided which is attached to the plug by some suitable means and extends diametrically across the top of the plug over the scratch mix, down along the body of the cardboard tube underneath the paper, and along the fusee body with a portion extending beyond the end of the paper covering.

Although this arrangement provides an effective way to protect the match head of the fusee body as well as the scratch mix on top of the plug, such an arrangement has several disadvantages. For the cap to be removed, it is necessary to yank on the tape so that the paper cover is ripped along one side of the fusee body and across the top of the scratch mix. Then it is necessary to manually twist the cap so as to sever the paper covering along the bottom edge of the cap whereupon the cap may be removed. Needless to say, in addition to the fact that such arrangements are relatively expensive to manufacture, they are such that the removal of the cap is a relatively cumbersome operation.

In addition, after the fusee has been lit and dropped on the ground, there is a problem of preventing its rolling away from the desired location. Some fusees utilize a spike in the bottom end which can be inserted into the ground to hold the fusee in an upright position. However, this solution does not work when the fusee is desired to be used as a warning device on the highway, as the spike is incapable of penetrating the concrete or macadam of the road surface. Various other devices have been conceived to prevent roll. These usually take the form of a separate holder which must be bent in a certain manner and attached to the fusee after the fusee is removed from the package. However, the addition of a separate device to prevent rolling of the fusee adds to its expense.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cap for a fusee.

Another object of this invention is to provide a no-roll device for a fusee.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved cap for a fusee having a no-roll feature.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fusee having a cap which is easily removed from the fusee body and inexpensive to manufacture. I

These and other objects will become more apparent by reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment of this invention and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a partial sectional view of a fusee provided with a cap constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lid portion of the cap; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tubular sheath portion of the cap mounted on the rearward end of a burning fusee.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, the fusee body 2 comprises a cylindrical paper tube 4 closed at its rearward end by a plug 6. For the purposes of this description, the ignitable end of the fusee will be referred to as the forward end, and the opposite end referred to as the rearward end. The rearward end portion 8 of the tube 4 is folded over and crimped against the plug 6 which is simultaneously compressed in a direction parallel to the tube 4 to form a sturdy water-tight closure. The tube 4 is charged with an appropriate pyrotechnic composition 10, the composition of which is determined by the color of the light and smoke to be generated. The pyrotechnic composition is tamped in the tube 4, or otherwise compressed, to nearly fill the tube 4. A small cavity 12 is made in the upper end of the compressed pyrotechnic mixture 10, and the forward portion of the tube 4 is then bent to form an upper crimp 14 over the top of the pyrotechnic composition 10. A match head mixture 16 of a conventional suitable composition is positioned within the cavity 12 and extends above the upper crimp 14 to serve as a match head and as a seal.

The upper portion of the fusee body 2 is fitted with a cap indicated generally by 18. The cap includes a sheath 20 having a tubular body 21 and a forward end wall 22. An elongated post portion 24 extends radially outwardly from the outer surface of the tubular body 21. This post portion 24 is simply a fingerlike projection having a relatively small cross-section area and being more rigid in a direction in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the sheath 20 than in the direction parallel thereto. As shown particularly in FIG. 3, the outer surface of the tubular body 21 is provided with a plurality of axially extending, circumferentially spaced ribs 26. The internal surface of the tubular body 21 contains a circumferentially extending bead 28 which serves to frictionally retain the sheath 20 on the fusee body 2 as well as seal the match head 16 and pyrotechnic composition 10 from moisture. The outer surface of the tubular body 21 is provided with a circumferentially extending locking rib 30 which is positioned forward of the post portion 24. A scratch mix 32 of any conventional suitable composition is attached to the outer surface of the end wall 22. The attachment may be accomplished through the provision of applying a pressure sensitive tape 34 to the outer surface of the end wall 22 and then applying the scratch mix 32 to the tape 34 either with a roller or a dabber.

The cap also includes a lid 36 which covers the forward end of the sheath 20. The cap includes a side wall 38 and an end wall 40. The internal surface of the side wall 38 of the lid is provided with a circumferentially extending locking rib 42. Locking rib 42 cooperates with locking rib 30 on the sheath 20 to retain the lid 36 on the sheath 20. This is accomplished due to the fact that the wall 38 of the lid 36 is resilient and will flex outwardly as the lid 36 is placed on the sheath 20 so that the locking rib 42 can pass over locking rib 30 until the rib 42 can pass behind rib 30 into locking engagement. The lid 36 is also provided with a tab 44 adjacent the free end of the side wall 38 to facilitate the removal of the lid 36 from the sheath 20 to expose the scratch mix 32.

It is to be understood that the sheath 20, including its end wall 22 and integral post 24 and ribs 26, is preferably made from plastic in one piec by injection molding. Likewise, the lid 36 is also manufactured preferably from plastic in one piece by injection molding.

With the cap 18 positioned on the fusee body 2 in the manner shown in FIG. 1, the head 28 will frictionally retain the sheath 20 on the fusee body 2 as well as protect the match head and fusee composition from moisture and damage. Likewise, by virtue of the locking ribs 30 and 42, the lid 36 is retained on the forward end of the sheath 20 to protect the scratch mix 32.

When it is desired to ignite the fusee body 2, the operator can easily remove the lid 36 to expose the scratch mix 32 by grasping the tab 44 to move the locking ribs out of engagement with each other and remove the cap. The sheath 20 can be removed from the fusee body 2 by grasping the side wall 38 thereof and pulling it relative to the fusee body 2 and slightly twisting. The ribs 26 facilitate the twisting of the sheath 20 and the removal thereof.

With the sheath 20 removed from the fusee body 2, and the cap 36 removed from the sheath 21]), both the match head 16 and scratch mix 32 are exposed. The fusee body 2 may then be ignited by scraping the scratch mix 32 across the match head 16. Once the fusee body 2 is burning the sheath 20 may be inserted over the rearward end of the: fusee body 2 as shown in FIG. 3 and the fusee thrown on the ground to continue burning. The post 24 will prevent the fusee from any substantial degree of rolling so that the fusee will remain in position as it burns.

By virtue of the above-described construction, a fusee is provided having a novel cap arrangement which is not only inexpensive to manufacture, but is relatively easy to remove. In addition, when the sheath is attached to the rearward end of the fusee, it will prevent the rolling thereof.

We claim:

1. A cap for a fusee body for the protective enclosure of the ignitable end thereof and which can be put on the other end to prevent rolling, said cap including a sheath defined by sidewall means and one end wall means, a scratch mix on the outside surface of said end wall means, an integral, elongated, postlike projection extending outwardly from said sidewall means in a direction transverse to the axis of said cap, a lid removably covering said end wall means, means for removably retaining said lid on said sheath including a circumferentially extending rib on the internal surface of the wall of said lid and a circumferentially extending rib on the outside surface of the sidewall means of said sheath, and a circumferentially extending head on the inside surface of said sidewall means for frictionally engaging a fusee body.

2. The cap of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of the sidewall means of said sheath includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced ribs extending parallel to the axis of the sheath.

3. A fusee including a tubular casing portion closed at one end and containing a pyrotechnic mixture, the other end having a match head capable of ignition by rubbing contact with a scratch mix, a removable cap covering said other end, said cap including a sheath defined by sidewall means and one end wall means, a scratch mix on the outside surface of said end wall means, an integral, elongated, post-like projection extending outwardly from said sidewall means in a direction transverse to the axis of said cap, a lid removably covering said end wall means,'means for removably retaining said lid on said sheath including a circumferentially extending rib on the internal surface of the wall of said lid and a circumferentially extending bead on the outside surface of said sidewall means of said sheath, and a circumferentially extending bead on the inside surface of said sidewall means for frictionally engaging said tubular casing portion.

4. The cap of claim 3 wherein the outer surface of the sidewall means of said sheath includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced ribs extending parallel to the axis of the sheath.

5. The fusee of claim 4 wherein said lid has a tab extending outwardly from the end of the sidewall thereof.

6. The fusee of claim 5 wherein said sheath, elongated ribs and projection are plastic and one piece and said lid is one piece and plastic. 

